This breakfast briefing will take a look at the outlook for the risk reduction market - looking in particular at how schemes can best prepare to conduct an insurance transaction, capacity in the market as well as the key factors that are likely to affect both pricing and demand.

So far, DC plans have largely been focused on the onset of auto-enrolment and changes to the regulatory framework - be it the ‘charge cap,' ‘pension freedoms' or consultations around ‘value for money', says Annabel Tonry, Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM).

In 2015 George Osborne, then the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, decided that those age over 55 could take much more of their pension in cash. This has since opened up a range of possibilities for DC scheme members in the world of pensions.

Over 40% of households could fall short in retirement - CRR

US - A downward slide in the retirement landscape has meant that 43% of working-age households are in danger of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living in retirement, according to the Center for retirement Research (CDD) at Boston College.

Unsurprisingly, the percentage of people deemed “at risk” by the CRR’s National Retirement Risk Index increased with each generation. While only 35% of ‘early bloomers’ (those born between 1946-1954) were at risk, the figure rose sharply in ‘late bloomers’ (1955-1964) to 44% and as high as 49% for ‘generation Xers (1965-1972).

And the CRR stressed its’ index used conservative assumptions and therefore might actually have “understated the size of the US retirement challenge”.

CRR director Alicia Munnell said the index results suggested many would struggle in retirement unless they changed their ways. But Munnell stressed ecen relatively modest adjustments, such as working two extra years or saving 3% more, could substantially improve retirement security.

The risk index was designed to project how much income households were expected to have in retirement relative to their pre-retirement income, and then compared that replacement rate to a target rate that would allow a household to maintain its pre-retirement standard of living.

Households that fell more than 10% short of the target are considered “at risk”.